All eyes will be on Tim Hortons on Tuesday as Canada’s biggest restaurant chain unveils its new five-year strategic plan to investors and analysts. After several years of pitched competition from McDonald’s Canada in the coffee category and slowing growth on its home turf, the market is keen to see what ideas new CEO Marc Caira has in store for the company.

1) Food innovation — Tim Hortons has been able to boost its same-store sales in recent years by adding new higher-ticket food items like wrap sandwiches and Paninis to round out its offering of baked goods and breakfast items. After a 35-year career at Nestle, Mr. Caira came to the company last July with a highly developed knowledge of the food service industry and menu development. New menu items that better target current consumer tastes is a key initiative of his, particularly as the brand matures in Canada. And as extensive renovations to its stores and drive-thrus wind through the chain, Mr. Caira has spoken of the need to improve performance from within by focusing on driving up productivity at its outlets, making menu innovation a critical strategic pillar.

2) U.S. strategy — After activist investors complained last year that Tim Hortons was not delivering adequate long-term returns for shareholders, management acted on many suggested initiatives, such as stepping up share buybacks. With a long history of climbing uphill in order for franchisees to gain a solid foothold in the tough U.S. market, executives also said that further expansion to the south of Canada will be explored through a “capital light” strategy. Expect to hear more about Tim Hortons’ plans for seeking out partners in the U.S. to help leverage the costs of real estate, supply chain and media. The company is looking for partners with an intimate knowledge of the market to take on multiple clusters of restaurants.

3) Financial targets —Tim Hortons will set target ranges for its same-store sales and earnings between now and 2017. They might be conservative estimates: Mr. Caira has been talking since he took the helm of the coffee chain about a more laborious “new era” in foodservice, with stiffer competition, slower sales growth and value-conscious customers. Analysts also speculate the company might return to the bond market to help fund planned share buybacks.

4) Number of new restaurant openings — Mr. Caira has said he will review the 4,000-restaurant level ceiling that prior management had targeted to signal a mature, built-out Tim Hortons store network in Canada. When the company’s last strategic plan was announced, Tim Hortons had 3,015 restaurants in Canada and 563 in the United States; now it has 3,588 and 859, respectively. While it has padded growth through opening alternate formats such as kiosks, questions remain about how much bigger it can get as organic store growth wanes.

5) Grocery and other brand extensions — Executives revealed on the fourth-quarter conference call last week that Tim Hortons would begin selling its single-serve pods for Tassimo and Keurig coffee machine formats into grocery stores this summer. “As a leading coffee brand, Tim Hortons needs to be where the consumer is,” Mr. Caira said, and that includes supermarkets. What is next up for the grocery aisles? Timbits?